


Who Has The Right?

by ElegantButler



Series: Bryce's New Beginning [4]
Category: Max Headroom (TV)
Genre: Business Politics, Gen, Human Rights, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-24 18:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14959424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: This picks up where Classroom Crush leaves off, as the game between Bryce Morven and Lee Michaelis gets underway. But when Network goons are sent to retrieve Bryce, all hell breaks loose.





	1. Lydiard Vs Cheltenham Bournside 2 - What Happened at the Game

Max Headroom: Who Has The Right?

Chapter 01: Lydiard Vs Cheltenham Bournside 2 - What Happened at the Game

“Can I help you, Mr. Carter?” Coach Ryan asked as he spotted Edison with his vidicam.

Edison looked around, but Bryce was nowhere in sight. He’d have to approach this carefully. “I was hoping to do a couple of interviews with the players before the game,” he said.

“You have ten minutes,” the coach told him. “I’ll send out whoever’s available.”

The coach left Edison standing there and went to the team’s locker room.

“Morven. Nelson.”

Bryce and his teammate Joel looked up at their coach.

“Edison Carter’s here,” Coach Ryan told them. “He wants an interview. Since you two are all set, you can go and get famous.”

~Carter,~ Bryce thought. ~What does he want now?~ 

Bryce took a deep breath, and went to find out.

Edison watched as Bryce approached. 

Even though Edison had seen it on Bryce in the photo back at the Morven’s house, the badminton uniform he had on was much different than what he was used to seeing him in. 

“Edison,” Bryce said, tersely.

“Bryce,” Edison replied, pleasantly.

“I’m not going back to Network 23,” Bryce told Edison. 

“I don’t expect you to,” Edison assured him. “I’m just here to report on the game.”

“Oh, really?” Bryce asked in sarcastic disbelief.

“Let me put it to you this way,” Edison said “If I can use this report to convince Cheviot and the others that you’re happiest where you are, they’ll hopefully take the hint and leave you alone.”

Bryce gave a short nod. “I suppose you really want to do an interview, then?”

“Morven!” Coach Ryan called to him. “Game time!”

“We’ll talk later,” Bryce promised as he hurried off to the badminton court.

Edison propped his vidicam up on his shoulder as he made his way to the media center of the stands.

“This is Edison Carter coming to you live and direct from Lydiard Park School in Swindon,” he said, as he aimed his vidicam at the court where the first game would take place. “For tonight’s badminton tournament against Cheltenham Bournside.”

Bryce walked onto the court, racquet in hand. Edison aimed his camera at the other side of the net where a second boy walked onto the court. He wore his hair in dreadlocks that were tied back to keep them out of the way while 

Edison put the second boy’s at about seventeen. It made him think of how Bryce’s birthday would be coming shortly. He wondered if he’d be able to see him then. 

“Focus,” he told himself. 

“Tonight’s first game,” the school announcer was saying, “features Lee Michaelis of Cheltenham Bournside and our own Bryce Morven. Michaelis is Cheltenham’s fifth best badminton player but Morven has been making a name for himself here at Lydiard, so this promises to be an exciting match.”

Formby and Plantagenet watched the match from their seats in the middle of the stands. 

“He’s good,” Formby mentioned, as Bryce deftly returned a serve which Michaelis sent back only to have it once again sent back into Michaelis’ court.

The exchange went for several minutes with the crowd on the edge of their seats. The shuttlecock moved rapidly back and forth over the net until Bryce sent it over the net for a two point score.

“A beautiful drop shot from Morven!” the announcer told her audience. “Two points to Lydiard after an amazing fifteen minute rally! These two players are clearly well matched!”

On the court, Lee gave Bryce an approving nod, apparently agreeing with the announcer. A nod which Bryce returned with a nod of his own and a wicked grin.

“I’ll be right back,” Plantagenet told Formby as he rose from his seat. “Restroom.”

She nodded and continued to watch the game. 

Plantagenet returned several minutes later.

“You missed a good rally,” Formby told him “Michaelis just scored. They’re one point apart.”

“There has to be a two point difference for a winner to be declared,” Plantagenet told her.

He watched the game for a bit more. Then he looked down as if to check his watch. It looked like an old analog windup watch. Tapping it, he turned the crown three times. 

Several explosions sounded throughout the room as thick black smoke poured from several random locations.

“What did you do?” Formby demanded angrily.

“Stage bombs,” Plantagenet explained. “Get Bryce!”

Edison tried to reach Bryce, but the frightened and panicking crowd was pushing him in every direction except the one he wanted to go.

“Bryce!” Formby shouted to him as she reached him. Part of her wanted to grab him and take him back to his new family’s house. But then she thought of her debts and Cheviot’s promise to make them all go away. “Come on,” she said, hoping her urgent tone would be enough to make him not think too much about what was going on.

“What’s happening?” he asked, not fully trusting her, but thinking that following her out of the room would be better than burning to death on a badminton court.

“I don’t know,” Formby told him. “But we’ve got to get out of here.”

As Bryce followed, he looked back and saw Lee Michaelis looking around in confusion.

“Lee!” he called. “This way!”

Lee quickly caught up with them, much to Formby’s annoyance. How would she get Bryce away from the school with another student there? Even one from another school. She couldn’t take them both to Network 23!

Edison fought his way through the crowd to the court. But by the time he got there, Bryce was nowhere in sight. All he could do was hope that Bryce made it safely out of the building.

As soon as he saw Formby emerge through the fire door with Bryce, Plantagenet put his hand over Bryce’s mouth and nose, a chloroform rag in his palm.

Formby helped him drag Bryce across the lot and bundle him into the car. She thought about telling him about the other student. 

~No,~ she thought, ~it’ll only delay us. Best to just say nothing.~

With Bryce unconscious in the back seat, Plantagenet and Formby drove off, heading back to Network 23.

“Bryce!” Edison called through the crowd, trying to find him.

“Mr. Carter,” Lee Michaelis called out. It took him several minutes to catch up with Edison. “They took him.”

Edison felt his heart jump in concern. “Who took him? Took who?”

“A man and a woman,” Michaelis said. “They took Bryce Morven. I think Bryce knew the woman. He and I followed her to the door, but they knocked him out. I stayed out of sight at that point. I think they think they lost me before we reached the door.”

~Kidnapped,~ Edison thought. “Could you give me description of this man and woman?”

“I can try,” Michaelis told him. 

“Come with me,” Edison said. “It’s too hard to think around here. I don’t want to take the chance at any mistakes.”

“We can use the team bus,” Michaelis suggested. “It’ll be quiet here.”

“Until your teammates come,” Edison reminded him. He looked at the Zik Zak franchise across the street. It was true that Michaelis might get in trouble for leaving an emergency scene, but Bryce’s life was more important. “Let’s get some crunch fries and calm down,” he said. “Then you can tell me everything.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 02: Chase

 

Bryce’s head was pounding as he slowly regained consciousness. Letting out a displeased groan, he sat up. At first, he felt a sense of disjointedness as he tried to work out where he was. It wasn’t until he looked up that he realized he was in the back seat of a car.

“Let me go!” he demanded, angrily. “I demand you take me home at once!”

“We are taking you home,” Plantagenet told him. “Back to Network 23 where you belong.”

“I belong with my family,” Bryce told him. “The ones who love me and don’t take advantage of me.”

“Your so-called family is dead,” Plantagenet told him. “They were killed in the explosion.”

Bryce lunged for him. Nearly causing him to veer off the road.

“You killed them!” he shouted angrily.

“Goddammit!” Plantagenet swore getting the car back in control. He turned to Formby. “Control the brat. Nearly got us killed.”

Bryce was glaring balefully at them both.

Formby held up the rag Plantagenet had knocked Bryce out with.

Taking the hint, Bryce sat back and fell silent. He would make his escape attempt when the opportunity presented itself.

*****

“It looks like Miss Formby,” Theora told Edison over the camera link as she put the finishing touches on the second description that Lee had given him.

“Formby,” Edison said. “Cheviot’s behind this.”

“Which means Bryce is being brought back to Network 23,” Theora realized. “Maybe we get return him to the Morvens once Formby leaves his studio?”

“I doubt they’ll put him back on Level 13,” Edison told her. “It’s more likely that they’ll hide him again. And if they do, we might never find him. Can you put a trace on him?”

Theora tapped a few keys on her control computer. “Got him,” she said. “Tracking now. I’m sending Martinez down to you.”

The helicopter soon touched down nearby. 

“Thanks,” Edison told Lee as he started to run off.

“I hope you find him,” Lee called. “He and I have a match to finish!”

*****

Bryce stuck his head out of the window and looked up as he heard the sound of the helicopter flying over them.

Formby yanked him back into the car.

“Foolish boy! Do you want to get yourself killed?”

“I’d rather be dead than Network 23’s captive,” Bryce told her. With the Morvens gone, he had nobody who truly cared for him. This made him both unhappy and dangerous. He would not stop trying to escape until he was either free or dead.

“Employee,” Plantagenet corrected him. “Your contract is still in force.”

“My contract with Network 23 was superseded by my adoption by the Morvens.”

“A moot point since the Morvens are dead,” Plantagenet reminded him.

“Perhaps you’d better not keep mentioning it,” Formby pointed out as Bryce glared even more hatefully at them.

“I’ll escape,” Bryce told them. “I am not Network 23’s toy anymore.”

“As long as you’re under contract, you’re whatever Cheviot wants you to be.”

“Then I’ll kill Cheviot,” Bryce threatened.

“I know you too well, Bryce,” Formby told him. “You’d never hurt a fly.”

“Ask Edison Carter if he agrees with that statement,” Bryce reminded her. “And speaking of that little incident, let me remind you that I was the one who created Blipverts. So I’m already responsible for several deaths. Adding Cheviot to the list won’t really make that much of a difference.”

*****

Unaware of his young friend’s murderous intentions toward his boss, Edison kept a tight grip on his vidicam.

“I hope he’s all right,” Martinez told him as the car that was speeding along the M4 began weaving through the other cars, trying to pull away.

“He’d better be,” Edison agreed. “What are they doing? They’ve got to know they can’t outrun a helicopter!”

*****

“Damn!” Plantagenet growled as the traffic began to slow. 

Formby took the chloroform rag and reached out to knock Bryce out again.

Leaning back, Bryce edged toward the door. He opened it and bolted from the car.

Plantagenet swore and climbed out of the car, chasing after Bryce.

Formby took the driver’s seat, closing both doors, and continued driving in the direction that Plantagenet was running after Bryce.

*****

“He’s out of the car!” Edison shouted. “Get me ahead of them!”

Martinez followed Bryce, moving the helicopter several feet ahead of him. Lowering the helicopter to a safe rescue level, he put the machine into hover.

Edison threw the door open and reached for Bryce. Bryce reached out in response, their fingers touched, but Plantagenet caught up with Bryce and pulled him back.

“Damn it!” Edison swore.

Formby pulled up with the car and Plantagenet wrestled Bryce back inside.

“Try that again, and we’ll have you lobotomized,” Plantagenet warned.

“What good would I be to you then?” Bryce snarled, as Formby placed the rag over his mouth and nose.

 

*****

Martinez continued the chase as the car veered off onto Haymarket, trying to get away by driving down a narrower street.

Edison watched for Bryce to make another escape attempt. 

After several minutes, Martinez spoke up.

“They must’ve knocked him out,” he told Edison. “They’re stopping!” he exclaimed.

*****

Formby and Plantagenet ran toward a large nearby building with Plantagenet carrying the unconscious Bryce over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

*****

“I can’t get close enough to let you off,” Martinez told Edison.

“Control,” Edison called into his vidicam.

“On it, Edison,” Theora said. “Head to Norris Street. You can get to street level at the Gardens.”

It took less than a minute for Martinez to reach Leicester Gardens. He lowered the helicopter and waited. 

Theora’s voice soon came over the vidicam link.

“They’re in a blue Citroen,” she told them. “I’ve contacted the Metros. They’ll be there soon.”

“I see it,” Martinez said, flying the helicopter directly over the car and turning it to stop just in front of it as the metrocops pulled up in five squad cars.

Edison retrieved Bryce from the back of the Citroen while the metrocops led Formby and Plantagenet from the scene.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03: Home

“Bryce, honey?” Mrs. Morven asked as she daubed a cold compress on Bryce’s forehead. “Honey?”

Bryce moaned but did not awaken. Still, it was more than an hour ago.

Edison Carter had brought the young genius home a couple of hours ago and then had taken off to deal with the people responsible for the attempted kidnapping.

“Is he… ?” Mrs. Morven had been afraid to say the word. Seeing Bryce completely limp in Edison’s arms had frightened her terribly.

“He’s out cold, but still alive,” Edison had explained as he had placed Bryce on the sofa.

For the first hour or so after that, Bryce hadn’t so much as whimpered. But now, as the chloroform was wearing off, he was beginning to regain consciousness.

Mrs. Morven kissed Bryce’s forehead, then went into the kitchen to start a light supper.

Mr. Morven sat on the sofa, firmly not watching Network 23 which was showing a rather boring episode of Lumpy’s Proletariat. After their attempt at kidnapping his younger son, he was no fan of the most powerful network in the world.

He wouldn’t have it on now, if it hadn’t been for Edison asking to keep it on until Bryce regained consciousness.

“Max wants to make sure Bryce is okay,” the reporter had explained.

“Why?” Mr. Morven had demanded.

“Bryce created Max,” Edison explained. “So Max has an attachment to him.”

“We’ll leave the TV on Network 23 only until Bryce talks to Max. After that, never again.”

“I recommend Big Time,” Edison told him, throwing a bone to his old friend Blank Reg’s pirate Music Video station as he departed. “It’s channel 3 on the dial.”

So, for now, the channel remained on Network 23.

*****

“I cannot continue to work here and have a clear conscience, Murray,” Edison said. “Not after what Cheviot just pulled.”

“Edison, I know how you feel,” Murray told him. “But this network needs you.”

“I don’t care about Cheviot’s ratings,” Edison complained. “Bryce could’ve been killed!”

“He’s okay, though, right?” Murray asked.

“I don’t know,” Edison said. “He was still out when I left. Max is keeping an eye on him. I doubt the Morvens will be watching Network 23 after Max talks to Bryce.”

*****

Bryce opened his eyes as he sat up on the sofa, bumping his knee on the coffee table with a little grunt of surprise.

He looked around the familiar room in growing amazement. Why had he been brought back to the Morven’s house? They were dead, after all. Killed in the explosion at the badminton game.  
So why bring him back here?

He put his face in his hands and failed to hold back his tears. Last year he never would’ve permitted himself to behave so emotionally. He had to get himself under control and figure out what he would do next.

“Awake at last-last-last,” Max said, sounding relieved.

Bryce immediately switched channels. The last thing he wanted was to have anything to do with the people who had tried to kidnap him, even if it was also someone from the network who had rescued him.

Porky’s Landing appeared on screen for a second, before Bryce switched channels several more times before finally landing on Big Time.

Mrs. Morven heard the TV channels changing and went into the living room.

“Nice to see you’re awake,” she told Bryce.

“Mom?!” Bryce exclaimed. “They told me you were dead!”

Mrs. Morven sat on the sofa next to her youngest son and ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’m just glad you’re home safe and sound,” she said, warmly.

“For now,” Bryce said, worriedly. “I don’t think Network 23 is going to give up so easily.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 04: For The Birds

A band with some rather bizarre visuals for a backdrop was playing on the TV a few days later while the Morvens watched with bemused stares.

Bryce smiled. He wasn’t any more in touch with whatever the musicians on the screen were trying to say. But he did know the owners of the station that was broadcasting it.

“Reg always comes up with something strange and interesting to air,” he remarked.

“Reg?” Dan asked. “You know the guy who made this?”

“This video? No,” Bryce shook his head. “But I’ve met the owners of the station that’s broadcasting it. They’re pretty cool.”

Bryce didn’t bother mentioning that Reg had even forgiven him when he’d almost got Reg killed after deflecting blame for a zipping incident toward Reg and away from Bryce’s old academy.

The video cut out. Then Blank Reg appeared on screen.

“Welp,” he told his viewers, “that was Jefferson Starship, or Starship, or Bloody Jefferson Airplane. Or Jefferson Dirigible… whatever they were calling themselves back then. Next up, some more old stuff with dust on it by the Seekers.” He paused in the middle of putting an old record on the turntable, which meant the audience would be looking at either Reg or Reg’s dog Fang for the next three to five minutes of airtime.

“Oh, and Bryce, if you’re watching, Edison wants to know if you’ll help him solve a problem he’s working on. I can’t say anymore.”

He placed the record on the turntable and lowered the spindle onto the vinyl. Georgie Girl began playing a moment later.

“There’s no way I’m calling Edison,” Bryce said. “They’ve probably got his view phone tapped. But he wouldn’t ask Reg to pass a message that would endanger me. So he’s got a legitimate problem. I’ll have to work out a way to communicate with him.”

*****

“Does anyone here know the three methods of communication used during the Second World War?” Bryce’s history teacher asked the next day.

Bryce and two others raised their hands.

“Morven,” the teacher acknowledged.

“I believe one way was to use radio,” Bryce told him.

“That is correct,” the teacher nodded. “More specifically, shortwave radio. Jill?”

“Morse code,” Jill offered.

“Another right answer,” the teacher praised. “Looks to me like this class has really been studying. Well done! Alex?”

“Carrier pigeon,” Alex said.

This answer made Bryce’s mind start racing. Perhaps there was a way to contact Edison without Network 23 knowing about it.

“And that makes three,” the teacher said. “Well good job all three of you.”

*****

Mrs. Morven looked up at the clock. It would soon be time for Bryce to come home from school. Ever since the attempted kidnapping, she had been very worried whenever Bryce was out of her sight. 

She knew she couldn’t keep him in front of her every moment of the day. He did need to go to school, although she made it clear that there would be no more badminton. Bryce hated having to quit the team, but both of his parents had insisted, and given what had almost happened, he had to admit they had a point.

The time for Bryce to arrive came and went.

No Bryce.

Mrs. Morven began to worry.

“What’s wrong?” her husband asked.

“Bryce isn’t home yet,” she told him. “What if something’s happened to him?”

Mr. Morven thought about this, worriedly, for a moment. Then brightened.

“I think I remember there being something on the news about construction somewhere,” he said. “The bus probably just had to change its route.”

Mrs. Morven relaxed, “I hope you’re right,” she said.

It wasn’t until nearly an hour later that Bryce walked in carrying a large paper bag which seemed to be full, though they could not tell what was in it.

“Where have you been?” his father demanded. “You’re an hour late! Your mother was scared to death!”

“I’m sorry,” Bryce apologized. “I only expected to be a couple of minutes. I guess I got caught up in things.”

“What things?” Mr. Morven asked.

Bryce grinned.

“Well, you remember that request that Reg passed on from Edison a couple of days ago…” 

*****

Edison was making coffee just after dawn the next morning when he heard a tap on his kitchen window.

He pushed the curtains apart, saw a bird, and went into the bathroom for his morning routine.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Edison paused, one foot hovering above the rim of the shower. He wrapped the towel back around himself and went to the kitchen.

The bird was still on the window sill, pecking at the glass.

“Crazy bird,” Edison muttered. He was about to turn away again when he noticed that there was something attached to the bird’s leg. He opened the window and the bird hopped in, and alit on the counter next to the sink.

“What have you got there?” Edison asked as he retrieved the scroll and unrolled it.

1J2FI

Bryce’s old door code. Realizing that Bryce had sent the bird as a method of contact, he looked at it more closely.

It was mechanical. So brilliantly made that Edison had mistaken it for a real bird. Now all Edison needed to do was to figure out a way to send a message back to Bryce with it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05: A Terrible Success

The bird flew to Bryce’s windowsill and gave it’s customary three taps.

Bryce opened the door and let it hop inside.

The note he’d put on its leg was there. But it looked different. Taking it off, he found that there was a smear on it in coffee grounds. No doubt Edison’s way of signalling that he’d got the code.

“Didn’t even notice the camera or the microphone,” Bryce muttered. He sketched two tiny pictures on the scroll and sent the bird off again.

*****

“I want Bryce back here by the end of the week,” Cheviot told the board members during the afternoon “I don’t care how you find him. Just find him and bring him back.”

Lauren didn’t voice her distaste for Cheviot’s current obsession with the young genius. Her need for self-preservation was too great. She couldn’t refuse the order. But she could do a deliberately bad job at it.

Ashwell didn’t have the same reservations that Lauren did. He had once kidnapped Max to use as leverage when Edison had threatened to do an unflattering piece on Network 23’s View-Age Church.

The biggest problem was that they needed a very good hacker to trace Bryce. And the two best trackers in the city were Theora Jones and Bryce himself. Of course neither of them would assist in this second kidnapping attempt.

As Ashwell was trying to determine a strategy, without much in the way of progress, while stepping across the street for a Zik Zak burger, he spotted a strange sight. 

Something about the length of his open hand flew past him. It flew up to one of the windows, which Ashwell judged to be on the Control level and sat on the ledge, hopping inside a moment later when the window was opened to allow it entry.

If I can just get a tracker on that thing…

There was no way he’d be that lucky this time, he realized. He would have to get the tracker then wait for the thing to return. 

I’ll have to figure out a way to attach the tracker after Control is finished with whatever that thing is. I can’t risk Carter finding it.

After a few days, Ashwell was ready. He’d bought a tiny tracker and an old-fashioned pea shooter. For the first few days he’d taught himself to use it with small dried peas. Now he was ready to use it with the tracker. 

He went to grab a box of crunch fries. Then, on the way back, he paused and waited for the mechanical bird, which was what he now knew the thing to be. 

As it flew overhead, Ashwell sent the tracker flying toward it. Then he went inside and headed to Cheviot’s office where the tracker program had been loaded onto the computer on Cheviot’s desk.

“Is it underway?” he asked as he walked in.

“It is,” Cheviot told him. “Well done, Ashwell.”

*****

Bryce opened the window for the bird as it returned to him. He had managed to send Edison several messages about the activities of the Bureau Burner, plus information on a surprising move on the part of a rival network to get more Blank viewers by announcing the placement of a Blank candidate for the next telelection. Something that Bryce doubted would be a success as they had chosen Breughal.

He looked the bird over, checking for weather or wind damage. At first all seemed well. Then he saw it.

A tracker! Someone had put a trace on the bird! They knew where he was!

Bryce started to pull together anything he thought he could use to defend himself.

He heard the sound of a door being kicked in, then the angry shouts of his parents, protesting against the intrusion.

They must’ve tracked in en route! No time to prepare! Have to lead whoever it is away from here! Away from my family!

He made a dash for it. The last thing he heard as consciousness left him was the screams of his family.

*****

Cheviot tried not to make a face when he walked into the small room that Bryce was in.

Just Bryce, he thought to himself. Neither Lynch nor Morven. Just Bryce. A Blank. Untraceable. Don’t even say either name. He wouldn’t remember either of them if you did.

Bryce sat at the computer, fingers flying deftly over the keyboard as they had done so long ago. His left eye, still human and imperfect, had been fitted with a contact lens, since it was no longer possible for him to wear spectacles.

His right eye had been removed, replaced with an implant that looked like some lo-tech monstrosity from one of the old cyberpunk novels that had populated the shelves of libraries around the time Bryce had been born. It was connected to a biochip which Cheviot had ordered be implanted in Bryce’s brain. He hadn’t dared to have Bryce lobotomized. That would, as Bryce had pointed out to Formby and Plantagenet, have defeated the purpose of bringing him back to Network 23. The chip had been suggested by another board member after hours, when they had been having a cup of coffee.

Suppress the parts of the memory that pertain to both sets of parents and anyone who he might try to contact for an escape. Plus make him docile and helpful. A perfect employee. 

Pity I couldn’t do that with everyone who worked for him. Cheviot thought as he handed Bryce the printout for the next day’s work. It was about five pages long, and Cheviot doubted even Bryce could manage it in one day.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 06: Dan’s Determination

When Dan Morven arrived home from work, he found the door off its hinges and his parents huddled on the sofa. His mother was sobbing inconsolably.

“We’ll get him back,” his father was saying. “I don’t know how, I’ll admit, but we will get him back.”

“What happened?” he demanded.

“Some goons from Network 23 came and took your brother,” Mr. Morven told him.

Dan turned toward his car.

“Dan!” Mr. Morven shouted.

“I’m going to get my brother back,” Dan told his parents, as he headed to the car.

As he started the car, he began to formulate a plan. He couldn’t go directly to Network 23. If he did, they’d simply kill him or have him arrested for trespass. He’d find Edison Carter first, then they would rescue Bryce together.

The trick was finding Carter’s home address. He doubted it would be in the directory. Not with Carter’s reputation and his celebrity status. 

Blank Reg, he thought, Carter recommended his channel to us, so they must know each other. He’ll be able to make contact. So, I guess I’m off to Big Time Television.

The drive was a long one. And it seemed a lot longer, as he thought about Bryce being in danger. 

He wondered where Bryce would be in Network 23. They certainly wouldn’t put him back in his studio on the thirteenth floor. That would make him too easy to find.

The door is probably rigged, he thought. I’ll have to get the right code or Bryce could be killed.

*****

Mr. Morven looked at the empty driveway as he dried his wife’s tears. Their younger son Bryce had been taken from them by Network 23, and their older son Dan had gone off on a mad quest to get his little brother back.

With no way to follow Dan, all he could do was wait. He wished he could’ve called Dan back. He didn’t want to lose both sons.

“I’m calling the metrocops,” he said.

“The metrocops can’t do anything,” Mrs. Morven sniffled, “Even if they did find Bryce, Network 23 has jurisdiction over the city. Lesser employees, like reporters and controllers, can be arrested. But not people from the Board.”

“Damn it,” Mr. Morven swore. “And we have no way of contacting Carter other than calling him at Network 23.”

“We can’t do that,” Mrs. Morven shook her head. “They probably monitor and log every communication.”

She began to weep again as her husband drew her close.

There was nothing they could do.

*****

After what felt like forever, Dan Morven reached London. As he looked, he could see the towering skyscraper that was Network 23.

“I have to get in there,” he said aloud to himself. “Somehow, maybe with the help of Blank Reg and Edison Carter, I have to get in there.”

He drove into the Fringes, and began to look around for Big Time. He didn’t know anything about them. What to look for. Which building they operated out of.

He’d been driving for nearly half an hour when he spotted an almost comical sight that made him smile with relief.

It was a neon pink bus.On the side was painted the words “Big Time TV”.

Dan parked the car and got out. He went to the bus and knocked on the door.

*****

“Who is it, Reg?” Dominique asked as Reg went to the door. She wished he wouldn’t just open it to everyone who came about. Then, again, Reg was strong and able to handle any unwelcome intruder. Usually with a very strong headbutt. 

“Dunno, love,” Reg told her.

“Dan Morven,” Dan introduced himself. “I need your help. My brother Bryce has been kidnapped by Network 23.”

Reg stepped aside and allowed Dan to enter the bus.

“We’ll do what we can, mate,” Reg said. “First thing we need to do is contact Edison.”  
He began to tap in the code for Theora’s control computer. “No worries,” he said, patting the view phone, “it’s a Blank. Untraceable.”

“But Networks log all incoming calls.”

“Only the ones on the general frequencies,” Reg explained, tapping the final key.

*****

“Anything yet?” Edison asked over the link, as Theora searched for the Bureau Burner on her computer. They had lost his signal a few hours ago, and had sent a message to Bryce asking if he had a way of tracing people that didn’t involve implants.

An alert light began to flicker. Someone was trying to reach her on an unauthorized channel.

“Hang on,” she told Edison as she flipped over to the channel. “I think he’s calling us.”

Instead of Bryce, however, Blank Reg appeared on her screen.

“Reg?” she asked. “Why are you calling me here?”

To her shock, Bryce’s older brother Dan squeezed onto the screen. “Bryce has been kidnapped,” he told her. “Network 23’s got him.”

“Oh, shit,” Theora cursed. “Edison,” she said into the vidicam link. “Cheviot’s got Bryce.”

There was a silence.

“I’m coming in,” Edison told her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 07: Finding Bryce

Edison stormed into the Boardroom, eyes blazing angrily.

“Where is Bryce?!” he demanded as a pair of security officers flanked him. No doubt they were there to protect Cheviot from the enraged reporter.

“He’s working,” Cheviot said, darkly. “Like he’s supposed to be. I suggest you return to your own work. Otherwise, I may have to take a page out of Grossberg’s book.”

Edison was sure he was referring to the time that Grossberg had nearly succeeded in getting him killed. An attempt which was, at the time, aided by Bryce. He wondered if Cheviot had control of Bryce somehow. Perhaps a threat against the Morvens?

Wordlessly, he left the Boardroom.

*****

“That idiot,” Theora complained as she listened to Edison’s tirade and subsequent departure from the Boardroom.

“Clever, Edison,” Murray smiled. He leaned over and spoke to Edison’s link. “So? You confirm your suspicions?”

“Yeah,” Edison replied as soon as he was on the lift. “Bryce is here somewhere. And it sounds like they’ve got some kind of hold on him. Perhaps a threat against his family.”

“So, what do we do?” Theora asked. “I’ve been trying to pick up a trace ever since I got the news. Something’s jamming his signal.”

“Can you find out where the jamming signal is coming from?” Murray asked.

Theora made three attempts, then slumped in defeat. It only lasted a moment.

“Max,” she said. When Max appeared on screen, she didn’t give him time to speak. “There’s a jamming signal that’s stopping me from tracking Bryce. Find it.”

*****

Max soon realized that the signal was coming from Network 23. He searched every screen, simultaneously so no suspicion would be aroused. At first he found nothing. Then, he felt the presence on another set. One that was unlinked to the outside world. Accessible only through Cheviot’s computer. Unlike Cheviot’s computer, and all the others, it had no global connection, no link to the thousands of TV channels that inundated the world. 

Max traveled along the connection between Cheviot’s computer and this strange device.

When he got to the other end, he screamed.

*****

“Max?” Theora asked, alarmed by the construct’s cry of dismay.

Max rushed to Theora’s screen, a look of shock on his face.

“Th-th-they! They! They!” Max was stammering a lot more than usual. “Bryce is… is… “

Dread filled several hearts. For the longest time, none of them dared to asked the question.

Finally, Dan whispered.

“Is he dead, Max? Is my little brother dead?”

“No,” Max told him. Seeing the look of relief on Dan’s face he added. “D-D-D-Don’t be so relieved-lieved-lieved. From what I saw, he’d be bet-bet-bet-better off if he was.”

“Max!” Theora exclaimed, somewhat taken aback. “How can you say that about Bryce to his big brother?”

“Show me,” Edison demanded.

“I’d rather not-not-not,” Max countered.

“Now!” Edison shouted at him, his anger boiling over.

Max’s shoulders sagged in defeat as he brought up the image of Bryce who was still working at the computer Cheviot had set up for him.

Dan’s, Edison’s, and Theora’s faces all bore expressions of horror.

“What did those bastards do to him?” Dan hissed angrily.

“Is that some kind of wearable technology?” Theora asked, hopefully.

Max shook his head, sadly.

“I’m pick-pick-picking up a signal emanating from Cheviot’s computer which is being directed toward Bryce. The op-op-optical device seems to be connected to a chip which as b-b-been hard-hard-hardwired to his brain.”

 

“And Cheviot’s controlling it,” Theora said.

“So we can’t rescue Bryce without gaining control of the chip. Otherwise, Cheviot could order him to kill one of us.”

“Or himself,” Dan whispered. “So, how do we do it? I’m sure that Cheviot’s got traps and viruses ready to spring if anyone tries to save Bryce. And I have no intention of risking the life of my brother.”

Edison turned to Max.

“Do you still know A7?” he asked.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 08: Dream Interlude

Bryce’s mind was not as docile as Cheviot wanted to believe.

It was true that the chip made his waking mind forget everything about any family or friends he’d ever had. But the subconscious was another matter. 

That night, as he lay in bed, no longer concerned with the tasks which Mr. Cheviot had set for him, his mind began to have bizarre thoughts he could not explain. He began to have visions. Visions he didn’t understand. 

There were people. People he did not know. Whom he’d never seen before. Yet their faces made him want to cry. 

“Illogical,” the part of his mind controlled by the chip told him. “There’s no reason for such nonsensical emotions.”

His subconscious, however, did not agree. It wondered why they were so familiar. A young man, just a few years older than him. And a pair of middle aged people. Probably the young man’s family.

Family?

Bryce’s eyelids drifted closed as he tried to remember his family. But each time he did, some part of his mind, a part he could not identify, seemed to block him.

Perhaps his family had died horribly when he was an infant. Maybe the trauma had been enough to make his mind lock away the event.

But if that were the case, who had raised him? Had he been brought up here?

His waking mind grew tired. Let the subconscious have its way tonight. He would try to make sense of it in the morning.

He reached up to adjust his pillow, and was soon asleep.

His subconscious exploded into activity. Desperately trying to warn him that something was horribly, terribly, wrong.

Those people again. 

The family. 

His family.

“Mom?” his dream-self asked. He started toward the woman who stood there in his dream with her family. But something awakened him.

The chip, programmed to detect any deep emotion, had asserted the programmed subroutine that would keep Bryce from fully remembering his past families.

Awake and unable to get back to sleep, Bryce went over to the computer and began trying to catch up with the assignments that he’d been given.  
But even as he tapped away on the keyboard, the deepest part of his mind kept nagging him that all was not right.

In fact, it was very wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 09: Rescue Plans

“I’m sorry, Max,” the voice of A7 said over the connection. “I’m afraid I cannot help you.”

“A7,” Max cooed, “I know you’ve been reprogrammed. But please…. P-p-please, try to remember. Bryce is my f-f-friend. I need your help to save him.”

There was a pause. 

“What’s wrong with this Bryce you speak of?”

“A chip was illegally implanted in his b-b-brain,” Max explained.

“We need to disconnect the chip from its control program,” Edison explained. “So we can restore his memory and get him home.”

“You can’t do that,” A7 said. “If you disconnect the chip from the control program for more than a minute, his brain will shut down completely. He’ll die.”

“So what do we do?” Dan asked. “I can’t lose my brother.”

A7 considered the problem. Then spoke.

“We need to copy the program,” she told the others. “It’s probably protected. I’ll break the lock, then you can make the copy.”

“Copy it to where?” Edison asked. “We can’t keep it on the Network computer. Cheviot will discover it and have it shut down.”

“Not if we make-make-make it a subroutine of my firmware,” Max offered.

“Nice thought, but no,” Dan told him. “Bryce would be tethered to the computer. There has to be a way to give my brother his freedom and his memory back.”

“There may be a way,” A7 said. “But you’re going to need help from Network 66.”

“What do we need their help for?” Edison grumbled. “I wouldn’t trust Grossberg with Bryce’s old teddy bear, never mind his brain.”

“I don’t think she means Grossberg,” Murray considered. “Max? Does Bryce have a counterpart at Network 66?”

Max nodded. “Her name’s Jenny Wilcox. She was his classmate at ACS. He made contact with her during the incident with Harriet Garth.”

“So that’s how he found out about ViewDoze so quickly,” Edison mused. “Max, contact Jenny Wilcox.”

A moment later, the face of a teenage girl appeared on the screen.

“Hello?” she asked, looking at Edison and the others in confusion. “Edison Carter?”

“Hello, Jenny,” Edison replied. “There’s no time for niceties. We need your help. Bryce needs your help.”

“What’s wrong with Bryce?” Jenny asked.

“It’s easier to show you,” Edison said. “Max…”

Jenny’s face dropped as she saw Bryce as he sat at the computer in the hidden room. 

“Oh my god,” she whispered, mortified by what she was seeing. She looked at Dan. “What is your involvement in this?”

“Bryce is my adoptive brother,” Dan explained.

“Adoptive? So Bryce wasn’t at Network 23?” Jenny hurried offscreen for a very quick moment. A meow of protest could be heard. Then Jenny returned to the screen. “Sorry. So where was Bryce when all this started?”

“The first attempted happened during the badminton game,” Dan told her.

“Bryce was at a badminton game?” Jenny asked skeptically.

“No,” Dan corrected her. “He was in the game.”

“I’ll have to talk to him about that after we rescue him,” Jenny said. “If they made the attempt at a school event, then they didn’t have his home address at the time.” she rested her chin on her fist for a moment in thought. “So, how did they get it?”

“I think it’s partly my fault,” Edison admitted. “Bryce created a mechanical carrier pigeon that we were sending back and forth with messages.”

Jenny considered this for several minutes. Then brightened.

“I have an idea,” she told them. She looked at Dan. “You. Go home and get that bird. If I can rework it, I may be able to copy the program that’s controlling Bryce into the bird. Then I’ll be able to transfer the link to that copy. I’ll have to upgrade the bird to make sure its systems can handle the constant data connection.”

“How long will it take?” Theora asked, concernedly.

“Two days at most,” Jenny admitted. “I could have it done in an hour, but this is a human being at stake. This is Bryce.”

Dan hurried out of the room, hoping his parents hadn’t thrown the mechanical bird away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Tension Mounts

 

“Dan!” his mother cried out in relief as she saw her older son. Her face darkened, however, when she did not also see her younger son Bryce. “You couldn’t find him?”

Dan looked at his mother. “I did, but the people who took him….” he couldn’t finish. Could not tell his mother what Bryce had become. 

“What are you talking about?” Mrs. Morven asked. “What did they do to him?”

For a moment Dan considered telling his mother that Bryce had been killed, probably while trying to escape. But that would be cruel. And he couldn’t bring himself to tell such a terrible lie.

“Dan,” his mother said, cutting into his thoughts. “What happened to Bryce?”

Dan thought about it, wondering how to describe the ghastly sight he had seen. 

“Something terrible,” was all he could say.

*****

“I’m ready to penetrate the ICE around the program controlling Bryce,” A7 told Max. 

“Ex-ex-excellent!” Max said, hopefully. “Thank you, A7.”

“So now we just have to wait until Dan returns with the bird and Jenny reconfigures it to hold the program copy,” Edison summarized.

“That’s pretty much it,” Theora said. 

“Why can’t we get the program now?” Murray asked.

Theora turned to him. “We still have to find the room Bryce is in and pick the lock without possibly blowing it up in the process. Plus there’s a good chance we’ll be detected when we break into Cheviot’s computer. If we break in now, with Bryce still in Cheviot’s control…”

“Cheviot might use the chip to kill Bryce,” Edison explained.

*****

“Define terrible,” Mr. Morven said evenly.

“When I saw him,” Dan explained, “he looked like a nightmare out of an old cyberpunk movie.”

“You’re saying he’s no longer human,” Mrs. Morven asked.

“Not entirely,” Dan confirmed. 

“Then we’ll never get him back,” Mrs. Morven wailed.

“We will,” Dan said. “That bird Bryce made. You didn’t throw it away?”

“I wanted to,” Mrs. Morven said. “I’m sure it’s how they found him. I just couldn’t bear to do it, though. It’s one of the few things here that’s uniquely Bryce.”

“I need it,” Dan told her. “We want to use it to contain Bryce’s control program. That way he can take it with him and he won’t be under anyone’s control but his own.”

Mrs. Morven went to fetch the bird.

“Let’s go,” Mr. Morven said, heading for the door.

“We can’t all go,” Dan said.

“Bryce is part of our family,” Mr. Morven said as he got into the car. “We’re going to do anything we can to help him get back his freedom. Or at least what he can get back of it.”

Mrs. Morven joined them at the car.

“I’m driving,” Dan told them.

“Fine, just hurry!” Mrs. Morven exclaimed.

 

*****

Bryce had all but forgotten the strange vision that had plagued his mind the night before. He worked diligently, trying to figure out the best way for Network 23 to boost their signal. 

“Perhaps I should tweak a few of the colors that appear the most often in the backgrounds,” he said to himself. “If I can manage a few shades that people normally don’t see, it might draw attention without viewers realizing it.”

He keyed into the computer’s color system and began making adjustments. 

After a while, he grew hungry. He headed for the door of the small suite of rooms to get one of the new burgers he’d seen Zik Zak advertise.

It would not open.

“Why can’t I open the door?” he asked himself. Exasperated, he sat down at the computer and called Cheviot on the viewphone link.

“Yes, Bryce?”

“I want to go to Zik Zak for lunch,” Bryce told him. “Would you mind telling me why I can’t?”

“I’ve locked you in temporarily for your own safety,” Cheviot explained, or rather lied, to him. “There have been a number of recent murders involving teenage geniuses like yourself. I need to keep you safe until the culprit has been arrested.”

“Fine,” Bryce muttered unhappily. “Have someone get me one of the new Zik Zak burgers.”

“How’s the signal boost project coming?” Cheviot wanted to know.

“I’ve boosted it a much as I can,” Bryce told him. “I’m trying to enhance viewer enticement by adjusting background colors to include those that don’t get seen very often.”

“How will that keep viewers interested?”

“Well,” Bryce explained, “you know how you drive by the same building over and over until you no longer see it?”

Cheviot nodded.

“What happens,” Bryce asked, “when they paint it a different color?”

“You see it again,” Cheviot realized. “Brilliant, Bryce. Keep up the good work.”

“Sure,” Bryce told him. “Just as soon as I get my burger.”

Cheviot disconnect the call and sent Ashwell out for Bryce’s request before tapping a number into the view phone.

“I think something’s interfering with the program,” he said when the person who had created the chip and control program came up.

“The chip will not override basic bodily needs or the subconscious,” the woman on the other end told him. “You cannot have genius without a healthy brain or imagination. Trust me, I know all about computers and human intellect. Remember, I was the one who created the A7 artificial intelligence program.”

“I remember very well, Mrs. Towne,” Cheviot told her. “I also recall that you nearly killed both Bryce and my star reporter.”

“Mr. Carter was a rather nasty thorn in my side,” Valerie Towne recalled. “And Lynch… as he was known back then… was an even greater threat. It’s nice to know at least one of them is under control now.”

*****

“Where are you going?” Mr. Morven asked as Dan drove past Network 23.

“Network 66,” Dan explained. “That’s where Jenny works.”

Mr. Morven simply nodded.

***** 

Jenny held out her hand as Dan rushed in with his and Bryce’s parents.

Dan handed her the mechanical bird.

Jenny appraised it for a moment. “As good as ever,” she decided.

“Can you use it?” Mr. Morven demanded.

“Most definitely,” Jenny replied as she got to work on updating the machine her former classmate had so painstakingly created.

*****

Max looked around the room Bryce was in from the screen of the computer.

“What are you?” Bryce asked, feeling he should know, though he did not know why.”

“There’s no time to explain,” Max said, urgently. “Can you tell me which room this is?”  
Bryce shook his head. “I’m locked in, whatever you are.”

“Whoever,” Max corrected him. “We’ll get you out, don’t worry.”

“Are you crazy?” Bryce exclaimed. “Three of my peers have already been killed. I’m not moving from this spot until Mr. Cheviot gives the all clear.”

“Wh-wh-when did they tell you that?” Max asked as he spotted a securicam, probably put there for Cheviot to make sure Bryce was still there. Just in case someone tried to do what Max and the others were trying to do.

“This afternoon,” Bryce replied. “When I wanted to know why I couldn’t go to Zik Zak to get a burger.”

“They lied,” Max said simply as he vanished from the screen.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Finalizing the Plan

Ned Grossberg tapped in Jenny’s number to find out why she hadn’t gotten back to him about her ideas on how to improve the ratings for Porky’s Landing now that the public had gotten tired of the current love triangle on the show.

He was a bit miffed to find her talking with three unwanted guests whom he knew were not members of her family.

“Jenny!” he shouted on the phone. “Who the hell are these people and what the hell are they doing in my Network?”

Jenny took a deep breath and began to explain…

*****

Bryce stared at the screen which now was once again filled with the specs for the recoloring program that he had been working on for Cheviot.

They lied.

The words reverberated in his mind for just a moment before a subroutine in the program pushed both them and Max’s visit out of his memory, recognizing the threat these things were to itself.

Bryce continued to work, his mind fully focused on his assignment. 

*****

“I have Bryce’s location,” A7 said. “He’s in a renovated storage room in the third basement.”

“Is he alone?” Edison asked.

“Physically, yes,” A7 informed him. “But Cheviot has three separate security computers monitoring him. None of them has total control of the program.”

“But…” Murray prompted, fearful of where this was leading.

“But they each have control of the failsafe switch,” A7 said. “According to the messages I’ve found, they are to detonate the switch if Bryce becomes a threat to this Network.”

“Detonate?” Theora asked, imagining the blipvert effect. “You’re not saying…”

“No,” A7 said. “It will simply activate a massive cerebral hemorrhage.”

“Simply,” Edison muttered in distaste. 

“So we have to knock on the cameras to prevent them from seeing our rescue attempt,” Murray suggested.

“We can’t do that,” Theora told him. “If we do, they’ll think Bryce is responsible and they’ll activate failsafe. We have to disable all three security computers simultaneously.”

“A7. Are they all in the same room?” Edison asked.

“No,” A7 said. “Only two are here at Network 23.”

“Where’s the other one?” Murray inquired.

“Sybaris Residential Complex,” A7 replied. “It’s under the control of Valerie Towne.”

“Towne is almost as smart as Bryce and Theora,” Murray reminded everyone. “She created A7.”

“A7,” Max asked, “will sh-sh-she be a problem for you?”

“Mrs. Towne wasn’t involved in my reprogramming so she doesn’t know my current subroutines.” A7 replied. “I, on the other hand, am still very much aware of the measures and countermeasures. She should be no match for me.”

“Then we’ll let you handle her. Blank Reg and I will…”

“Blank Reg doesn’t know Network 23 anywhere near as much as I do,” said Grossberg as he walked in with Jenny and Bryce’s family. “Jenny, you and I will access and disarm the two security computers that are controlling Bryce from Network 23.”

“I can’t do it, sir,” Jenny pointed out. “I need to copy the program to the bird and switch so that Bryce will be connected to Buzzardo instead of Cheviot.”

“Buzzardo?” Edison muttered.

“80’s rock music reference,” Reg told her. “Maybe I’ll explain it to you one day.”

“Let’s just concentrate on the mission right now,” Edison said. “Bryce needs our help.”

“I’m going to bring Buzzardo to Bryce so I can connect them,” Jenny said.

“We’re coming with you,” Mrs. Morven said, glaring at them all to let everyone know she would not take no for an answer.

“ You can’t all go,” Murray told her. “If the security cameras in Bryce’s location pick up too many people, it might set off an alarm.”

Mr. Morven looked at his wife. “You go,” he told her. “Who knows, he may recognize you even with the chip.”

“Let’s not get our hopes up too much,” Mrs. Morven shook her head as she rethought the matter. “Maybe we shouldn’t go. It might endanger him further.”

“Do we have everything worked out?” Murray asked.

Edison nodded.

“A7 is going to deactivate the failsafe switch at Sybaris Condo while Grossberg and I do the same with the two switches here at Network 23. Once that’s done, Jenny will take Buzzardo to the sub-basement where she will copy the control program over to the it and relink Bryce with the bird, unlinking him from Cheviot’s computer. After that, Jenny will deactivate the memory dampeners and free Bryce from Cheviot’s control. So, are we ready?”

Everyone nodded, except A7 of course. She flashed a small light on Theora’s computer to indicate her readiness.

“Good,” Edison said. “Let’s go.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Rescuing Bryce

“How are we going to keep in touch?” Edison asked.  
Theora thought about this. “We can’t talk through the system, it might be detected. I’ll signal you through the securicam indicator lights. Twice for Edison and Grossberg. Three times for Jenny.”

“Good idea,” Jenny agreed.

*****

Jenny made her way to the sub-basement. When she arrived, she stood there waiting for Theora’s signal. As she waited, she examined the bird which Bryce had made and she had improved upon.

“This had better work,” she told herself. 

*****

Valerie Towne sipped her coffee and watched Network 23. Every so often her eyes would drift over to her computer where a small window in the corner of the screen monitored a certain brat’s program.

“Just give me one excuse,” she whispered. “Just one so I can shut you off.”

She glared, evilly, at it. Then, after a minute, she returned her attention to the chat show that was currently occupying her TV.

She didn’t see the program in the corner slowly fade from the screen until only the background image remained.

*****

Edison and Grossberg walked into the security guard station.

Two of the guards saw them and reached out for their computers, each ready to send the failsafe that would kill Bryce.

“You don’t really want to do that,” Grossberg told them, reasonably. 

The guards paused. 

“We have to,” one of them said. “Cheviot’s orders.”

“We’re supposed to shut the machine down if there’s any sign of independent thought,” the second one added. 

“Machine,” Edison said. “You think you’re about to destroy a machine. Have you even looked at who you’re about to kill?”  
“Who?” the second guard asked.

“Max,” Edison said. “Show them.”

Bryce appeared on the guards’ screens a moment later.

Both guards sat back, mortified at what they’d almost done.

“Thanks, Max,” Edison said as he and Grossberg each stepped up to one of the two security computers and disconnected their failsafes from Bryce.

*****

Theora waited at her control desk, Murray gazing anxiously over her shoulder. Both hoped the rescue plan would work.

A7 had reported in a few moments ago. Now she just had to wait for Edison and Grossberg so she could signal 

“All’s clear here,” Edison said over the link.

 

 

*****

“Mission accomplished,” A7 told Theora as she returned to Network 23.

“Now we just have to wait for Edison and Grossberg to take care of their job,” Murray told himself out loud.

“All clear,” Edison said about a minute or so later.

*****

With Bryce disconnected from the failsafe, Max made his move, deftly working the intricate lattices of the door’s security code until it fell away and the door unlatched with a barely audible click.

*****

Jenny saw the three barely noticeable flashes of the securicam’s indicator light. Walking up to the door, she put her hand on the knob, hoping it had been properly unlocked.

It swung open with barely a nudge and she walked in.  
“Bryce,” she said.

Bryce turned to face her.

“Oh, Bryce,” she said, sadly as she looked at the lo-tech cybernetic eye that had been linked to his brain. “Don’t worry. I’ll have your memory restored in just a moment.”

She linked the bird to Cheviot’s computer and began the download.

“Who are you?” Bryce asked. 

Jenny had been prepared for this. But it still stung that he could not remember her.

“You’ll remember soon,” she told him. “Now close your eyes. This is going to be a little disorientating.”

Bryce closed his eyes as he’d been instructed. He felt a sudden shift, as if some part of his brain had been realigned. 

“What?” he asked.

“Disabling memory block,” he heard the girl say.

A moment later the faces of the family he’d seen in his dream began to appear in his conscious mind once again. This time he knew exactly who they were.

He opened his eyes and felt a sense of confusion. The view from his still-human eye seemed perfectly normal. The view from his right eye, however seemed to be both split into two halves, but also seemed to be coming from a completely different part of the room.

“Breath, Bryce,” Jenny coached. “Try to relax. I know it must be confusing. You’ll have to start using each eye separately. The implant can’t be removed, so you’ll have to get used to seeing in a new way.”

“Why am I seeing myself in one eye?” Bryce asked her.

“Bryce,” Cheviot said as he entered the room. He saw Jenny and paled. “What have you done?” he asked, realizing that Bryce must’ve been disconnected from his control.

“Why didn’t you just ask for my help?” Bryce asked him, his voice filled with bitterness. “I would have given it.”

Cheviot reached for Bryce.

Bryce wasn’t sure how he did it, but he was certain that he was responsible when the bird he’d created flew over and began attacking Cheviot.

“Bryce, stop it,” Jenny said when the mechanical beak struck Cheviot’s eye. “Get control of yourself! Buzzardo will kill him if you don’t! Do you want that on your conscience?”

Bryce relaxed and the bird flew away from Cheviot.

Buzzardo alighted on Bryce’s shoulder. 

“How?” Bryce panted as Jenny led him out of the sub-basement, leaving Cheviot behind with a hand clasped over his bleeding eye socket.

“The program that was created to suppress your memory could not be erased without killing you,” Jenny explained. “So I transferred it into Buzzardo. The link must’ve given you control of the bird as well as connected your eyesight to it.”

“Buzzardo?” Bryce mused, the bird’s name triggering a memory from when he’d still been a toddler. Song lyrics danced just beyond the tip of his tongue, teasingly out of reach.

Jenny nodded, but did not elaborate. There wasn’t time. Cheviot could still contact security and order Bryce shot.

*****

Mrs. Morven waited in the control room, her hands fidgeting anxiously. She paced. She sat. She paced again. 

Finally, the door opened.

Jenny and Bryce rushed in.

“Mom?” Bryce asked, seeing Mrs. Morven.

Mrs. Morven took in her son’s new appearance. At the cruel disfigurement that Cheviot had forced upon him.

Then she raced to hug him, throwing her arms around him in relief as she wept.

Bryce clung to her for a long moment. Then released her.

Mr. Morven and Dan joined them a moment later.

“Let’s go home,” Mrs. Morven said.

Jenny put a hand on Bryce’s bird-free shoulder.

“Contact me when you get home,” she said. “We need to talk.”

“I will,” Bryce promised as he followed his family out of the room.


End file.
